Perspectives international

Perspectives international

Urgent warning: The Israeli government may be contemplating crimes against humanity

 

Members of Israeli Academe

Dear Friends,

The following is a petition which is getting organized by members of the Israeli academe.  I think it speaks for itself.  While not condoning inhuman crimes cynically perpetrated by extremist Palestinians against civilians in Israel in the name of so-called freedom fighting, the official response of the current Israeli government often becomes a version of State Terrorism, and rather than directed at stopping the circle of bloodshed seems intent on increasing it for reasons mentioned in the petition below.  It is not easy for an Israeli to sign this text.  If we did, it is to raise our voice and your conscience to help stopping this snowball process leading the whole area into the abyss of senseless violence.

For better days,
A. Oz

Professor Avraham Oz
Department of Theatre
University of Haifa
Mount Carmel, 31905 Haifa, Israel
Telefax: +972-3-5609627
Email: avitaloz@research.haifa.ac.il

Urgent warning: The Israeli government may be contemplating crimes against humanity.

We, members of Israeli academe, are horrified by US buildup of aggression towards Iraq and by the Israeli political leadership’s enthusiastic support for it.

We are deeply worried by indications that the “fog of war” could be exploited by the Israeli government to commit further crimes against the Palestinian people, up to full-fledged ethnic cleansing.

The Israeli ruling coalition includes parties that promote “transfer” of the Palestinian population as a solution to what they call “the demographic problem”.  Politicians are regularly quoted in the media as suggesting forcible expulsion, most recently MKs Michael Kleiner and Benny Elon, as reported on Yediot Ahronot website on September 19, 2002.  In a recent interview in Ha’aretz, Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon described the Palestinians as a “cancerous manifestation” and equated the military actions in the Occupied Territories with “chemotherapy”, suggesting that more radical “treatment” may be necessary.  Prime Minister Sharon has backed this “assessment of reality”.  Escalating racist demagoguery concerning the Palestinian citizens of Israel may indicate the scope of the crimes that are possibly being contemplated.

We call upon the International Community to pay close attention to events that unfold within Israel and in the Occupied Territories, to make it absolutely clear that crimes against humanity will not be tolerated, and to take concrete measures to prevent such crimes from taking place.

Signatories, as of the 23 Sept 2002, morning:

Prof. Zach Adam Rehovot
Prof. Colman Altman Haifa
Dr. Janina Altman Haifa
Tammy Amiel-Houser Tel Aviv
Chaya Amir Tel Aviv
Dr. Shmuel Amir Tel Aviv
Prof. Daniel Amit Jerusalem/Rome
Yali Amit Chicago, Illinois
Dr. Meir Amor Montreal
Dr. Yonathan (Jon) Anson Beer Sheva
Prof. Shalom Baer Jerusalem
Dan Bar-On Beer Sheva
Dr. Avner Ben-Amos Tel Aviv
Prof. Matania Ben-Artzi Jerusalem
Prof. Linda Ben-Zvi Tel Aviv
Avi Berg Tel Aviv
Dr. Louise Bethlehem Hod Hasharon
Prof. Anat Bilezki Tel Aviv
Uri Bitan Haifa
Prof. Daniel Boyarin Berkeley
Prof. Victoria Buch Jerusalem
Smadar Carmon Toronto
Dr. Nicole Cohen-Addad Tel Aviv
Dr. Uri Davis Sakhnin
Athena Elizabeth DeRasmo Haifa
Prof. Aharon Eviatar Tel Aviv
Dr. Ovadia Ezra Tel Aviv
Prof. Emmanuel Farjoun Jerusalem
Pnina Firestone Jerusalem
Elizabeth Freund Jerusalem
Gadi Geiger Cambridge, MA
Dr. Amira Gelblum Tel Aviv
Prof. Rachel Giora Tel Aviv
Dr. Anat Goldrat-First Netanya
Dr. Ofra Goldstein-Gidoni Tel Aviv
Dr. Neve Gordon Beer Sheva
Dr. Yerah Gover New York
Prof. Charles W. Greenbaum Jerusalem
Dr. Lev Grinberg Beer Sheva
Ran HaCohen Tel Aviv
Prof. Uri Hadar Tel Aviv
Prof. Galit Hasan-Rokem Jerusalem
Dr. Sara Helman Beer Sheva
Prof. Hanna Herzog Tel Aviv
Prof. Ze’ev Herzog Tel Aviv
Prof. Hannan Hever Jerusalem
Dr. Tikva Honig-Parnass Jerusalem
Shirly Houser Tel Aviv
Tal Itzhaki Haifa
Prof. Eva Jablonka Tel Aviv
Andrea Jacobs Austin, Texas
Dr. Devorah Kalekin-Fishman Haifa
Aya Kaniuk Jerusalem
Prof. Jacob Katriel Haifa
Prof. Tamar Katriel Haifa
Prof. Baruch Kimmerling Jerusalem
Dr. Haggai Kupermintz Boulder, Colorado
Dr. Ron Kuzar Haifa
Dr. Ariela Lazar Evanston
Prof. Micah Leshem Haifa
Erez Levkovitz Jerusalem
Prof. Rene Levy Lausanne
Dr. Orly Lubin Tel Aviv
Dr. Ruchama Marton Tel Aviv
Dr. Anat Matar Tel Aviv
Prof. Paul Mendes-Flohr Jerusalem
Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom Jerusalem
Menucha Moravitz Ramat-Gan
Regev Nathansohn Tel Aviv
Prof. Avraham Oz Haifa
Dr. Ilan Pappe Haifa
Gabriel Piterberg UCLA
Shakhar Rahav Berkeley
Dr. Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin Beer Sheva
Prof. Zvi Razi Tel Aviv
Prof. Tanya Reinhart Tel Aviv
Prof. Fanny-Michaela Reisin Berlin
Prof. Freddie Rokem Tel Aviv
Prof. Henry Rosenfeld Haifa
Dr. Maya Rosenfeld Jerusalem
Ouzi Rotem Philadelphia, PA
Dr. Hannah Safran Haifa
Tami Sarfatti UCLA, CA
Dr. Nita Schechet Jerusalem
Hillel Schocken Tel Aviv
Ruben Seroussi Tel Aviv
Dr. Erella Shadmi Beit Berl
Prof. Nomi Shir Beer Sheva
Dr. Miriam Shlesinger Tel Aviv
Aharon Shabtai Tel Aviv
Orly Soker Sapir-Jerusalem
Nurit Steinfeld Jerusalem
Roman Vater Tel Aviv
Dr. Roy Wagner Tel-Aviv
Dr. Michael Yogev Haifa
Kim Yuval Tel Aviv
Prof. Moshe Zimmermann Jerusalem
Michal Zweig Herzelia